Sep 8, 2010 - ADX Energy and partners will suspend the Lambouka-1 discovery well in order to reenter the well at a further date. Reentering the well will help obtain additional hydrocarbon and reservoir information, stated the operator. In the mean time, obtained data will be interpreted to provide further assessment of the discovery well. The Lambouka discovery is situated in the Kerkouane permit offshore Tunisia in a water depth of roughly 1,312 feet (400 meters) of water. AuDAX serves as the operator, holding a 30% interest. Partners on the license include Gulfsands Petroleum, holding 30%; Carnavale, holding 20%; XState Resources, holding 10%; and PharmAust, holding 10%.

Sep 8, 2010 - Chevron was granted approval by the Liberian government to acquire a 70% operating interest in three deepwater concessions offshore Liberia. Under the agreement, Chevron will conduct a three-year exploratory program beginning in the fourth quarter of 2010. The three deepwater blocks, LB-11, LB-12 and LB-14, are located 12 to 110 miles (19 to 177 kilometers) south of Monrovia and cover a combined area of 2 million acres (9,600 square kilometers).

Sep 8, 2010 - The Droshky development has ramped up production to about 45,000 net barrels of oil equivalent per day, consisting of approximately 39,000 barrels per day of liquid hydrocarbons and 39 MMcf/d of natural gas. The satellite development consists of four wells tied-back to the third-party Bullwinkle platform. According to Marathon, three of the four wells are currently producing at better-than-projected levels, while production from the fourth well was delayed due to an equipment issue. In the first quarter of 2011, Marathon plans to re-enter the fourth well to make necessary repairs. The field is now expected to produce at a peak rate of about 45,000 net boepd, down from the original rate of 50,000 net boepd. Located on Green Canyon Block 244 in deepwater Gulf of Mexico, Droshky is situated in 2,900 feet (884 meters) of water about 137 miles (220 kilometers) southwest of Venice, Louisiana.

Sep 8, 2010 - The John Shaw semisub has completed the second phase of development drilling in the 'Horst' compartment in the northern area of the Don Southwest field. Production from this area commenced in late July with drilling completed under budget and ahead of schedule, reported Valiant Petroleum, a partner on the field. The 'Horst' well achieved an initial, stabilized rate of 17,000 bopd with total gross oil production from Don Southwest flowing in excess of 30,000 bopd. Furthermore, the water injection well was completed ahead of schedule and is being tied into the water injection subsea system. This well should commence operations sometime in September. Don Southwest is located on UK Block 211/18a, roughly 6 miles (9.5 kilometers) away from the UK/Norway median line. The field is 60% owned by Petrofac, serving as operator; Valiant owns the remaining 40% interest.

Sep 8, 2010 - Valiant Petroleum reported extensive analytical work is being carried out on the Tybalt field to identify an optimal drilling location to further appraise the field in order to prove the total STOIIP, while understanding the connectivity of the reservoir to establish ultimate recoverable reserves. Appraisal drilling is planned for 2011. The Tybalt prospect is situated in Quad 211 in the UK sector of the North Sea. Valiant owns an 80% operating interest in the prospect; Agora Oil and Gas owns the remaining 20%.

Sep 7, 2010 - Noreco has received consent to conduct exploratory drilling in the North Sea using the West Alpha semisub on well 17/6-1. Drilling should commence in September/October 2010 and last for about 45 days. The well, located in Production License 545 in waters measuring 892 feet (272 meters), is situated about 68 miles (110 kilometers) southwest of Haugesund. Noreco operates the license, holding a 50% interest; Spring Energy holds 30%; and Petoro holds the remaining 20%.

Sep 7, 2010 - The Ocean Guardian semisub is at the location of the Sea Lion 14/10-2 discovery well, and operations to carry out a flow test on the well is underway. Operations should last about 30 days. The Sea Lion discovery is located on Block 14/10 in Production Licenses 032 and 033 on the eastern basin margin of the Falkland Islands. Rockhopper wholly owns and operates the field.

Sep 7, 2010 - Chevron has received final approval to acquire operating interests in three exploration blocks in the South China Sea's Pearl River Mouth Basin. The company has acquired a 100% interest in Blocks 53-30 and 64-18, and a 59.18% interest in Block 42-05, from Devon's subsidiary, Devon Energy China, Ltd; and BP will acquire the remaining interest in Block 42-05. The three blocks cover an exploratory acreage of about 5 million acres (21,000 square kilometers). Chevron will serve as the operator during the exploration phase under the amendment agreements to the production-sharing contract with CNOOC.

Sep 7, 2010 - ADX Energy has discovered hydrocarbon-bearing zones in the Lambouka-1 well. The well reached a total measured depth of 9,140 feet (2,786 meters), and wireline logs have confirmed a net pay of about 75 feet (23 meters) in at least two reservoir units in the Abiod formation. The hydrocarbons likely consist of gas and possibly condensate in the lower interval, based on shows encountered while drilling. Based on wireline interpretation, the first water-bearing reservoir was encountered about 755 feet (230 meters) below the upper hydrocarbon zone. Drilling data indicate that the Abiod limestone formations at the well are extensively fractured, which is a positive factor for reservoir productivity. Due to ongoing fluid losses and the deterring wellbore, it isn't possible to safely recover fluid samples or pressure data from the formation. The joint venture will now decide on whether to suspend or plug and abandon the well. A decision depends on whether suspension and future re-entry will provide the best opportunity to minimize rig time and maximize reservoir information acquired from a drill stem test. The Lambouka prospect is situated in the Kerkouane permit offshore Tunisia in a water depth of roughly 1,312 feet (400 meters) of water. AuDAX serves as the operator, holding a 30% interest. Partners on the license are Gulfsands Petroleum, holding 30%; Carnavale holds 20%; XState Resources holds 10%; PharmAust holds 10%.

Sep 7, 2010 - Mustang received a contract from Chevron to design topside facilities for the Jack and St. Malo semisubmersible facility. The facility is expected to produce between 120,000 and 150,000 bopd and 37.5 MMcf/d (1 MMcm/d) of natural gas, as well as house provisions for future water injection of 200,000 bpd. Production is expected to commence in 2013. The semisub will be located in about 7,000 feet (2,134 meters) of water in the Walker Ridge area of the Gulf of Mexico.

Sep 7, 2010 - Dragon Oil has completed and begun initial testing of the Dzheitune (Lam) 28/147 development well in Turkmenistan. The well, drilled to a depth of 11,155 feet (3,400 meters) on a single completion basis by the NIS rig, was tested on a 24/64-inch choke. It flowed at an initial rate of 2,451 bopd with a wellhead flowing pressure of 1450 psi. The rig skidded to the next slot on the Lam 28 platform and spudded the Lam 28/149 well. The company remains on target to complete 11 new wells in 2010. The Lam oil field is situated on Block 2 in the Cheleken Contract area offshore Turkmenistan, which Dragon Oil wholly owns and operates.

Sep 7, 2010 - Following the completion of cementing operations on the MC252 well on August 5, pressure testing has indicated there is an effective cement plug in the casing, reported BP. Operations are now underway to replace the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig's failed blow-out preventer with the DDII drilling rig's BOP, in order to resume drilling of the relief well. The capping stack on top of the DWH BOP was removed by the Discoverer Enterprise drillship on September 2. Once the capping stack is removed, the support vessel will connect a riser to the DWH BOP to remove the BOP from the well. The DDII rig will then move its BOP into place. The DDIII drilling rig is on standby to resume drilling the relief well, which is at a measured depth of 17,909 feet (5,459 meters), and is progressing to intersect with the MC252 well. It is expected the relief well will intercept the MC252 well annulus by mid-September. The Macondo field is located on Mississippi Canyon Block 252 in the Gulf of Mexico in a water depth of 4,993 feet (1,522 meters).

Sep 7, 2010 - A well intervention and remediation program has commenced on Tindalo-1 well, announced Nido Petroleum. The well was shut-in and re-entry operations have commenced; diagnostic logging will be performed to determine the appropriate action to remedy the water influx into the well. Operations should take about 10 to 17 days to complete. The Tindalo field is located in the northeast quadrant of Service Contract 54 offshore Philippines.

Sep 3, 2010 - Exploratory drilling on the Zola-1 well has been delayed until November 2010. The operator, Apache, reported the delay is due to an additional well being added to the Stena Clyde schedule, placing it ahead of Zola-1. The well is located in WA-290-P offshore Western Australia. Partners in the license include Apache (operator, 30%); Nippon Oil Exploration (25%); OMV Australia (20%); Santos Offshore (15%); and Tap (10%).

Sep 3, 2010 - Statoil received consent to use the new L-103 pipeline from subsea template L to the Asgard B facility. The consent also includes changes to the process equipment on Asgard B as a result of the new pipeline. The new 2-mile (4-kilometer) long pipeline has an internal diameter of nine-inch, and facilitates production from subsea template L to Asgard B. The wells should produce to either Asgard A or B or to both facilities at the same time. Start-up of the new pipeline is planned in October 2010. The Asgard field is located 124 miles (200 kilometers) offshore Norway in the Halten Bank of the Norwegian Sea.